Losing You Is Never an Option
by Sidalee
Summary: Intimacy is based on shared vulnerability…nothing deepens intimacy like the experiences that we share when we feel flayed, with our skins off, scared and vulnerable, and our partner is there with us, willing to share in the scary stuff.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Well, this is my first Five-0 fic so please be gentle with me. It takes place early in the first season and everything is AU after. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>When Kono walks into the HQ, she immediately notices the silence. Silence only means bad things, she knows that much.<p>

Looking around she finds Chin and Danny in Danny's office, hunched over a huge pile of files and they seem to be deep in whatever they are doing. She knows bullshit when she sees one. She glances at the direction of Steve's office and there he is, walking back and forth, phone pressed to his ear with a deep frown on his face.

She lets out a heavy sigh and walks towards Danny's office in order to find out the reason of the tension filled silence.

"Hey, guys. Howzit?" Kono asks casually.

Chin and Danny look up reluctantly at her. Chin's face tells nothing, but she gave up on getting any info by reading her cousin's expression years ago. But Danny is an entirely different story. His features are like a gossiping old hag, his brows furrowed, almost touching each other, his gaze keeps bouncing towards Steve's office then back at her in a way he thinks is very stealthy. It's not.

"Hey, Kono." Danny's voice is just a hint higher then usual.

"What's wrong?" Kono is out of patience. "Is it about the case?"

"Yes." Chin finally speaks up but Danny cuts him off quickly.

"Aaand Steve's just finished his phone call." He smiles gleefully. "He wants to talk to you. Go on. Chop chop."

By the time Kono reaches McGarrett's office she has a very bad feeling. Danny hates bringing bad news but he has a sick fascination with watching Steve doing it. Kono looks back over her shoulder and there he is, his face almost pressed against the glass wall, waiting for her to enter the boss' office. She knocks on the door and steps in.

Steve looks up; staring at her with unblinking blue eyes for a couple of minutes before he finally clears his throat and starts to speak.

"I have bad news, Kono. The guy from last night? Not the one we are looking for. The witnesses didn't recognize him."

"This is the third guy." Kono sighs, thinking back at the last two weeks of hard work and she's not happy about that outcome.

"It's not that they weren't guilty in other things." Steve flashes a short reassuring smile. "But we need to find the real perp. The one with the knife."

Kono scoffs quietly. He says 'knife' without batting an eyelid. She fights the urge to tell him to put on a skirt and go out for a hunt instead of her this time. She saves it for later.

"Why can't we let the HPD to take this case?" She asks. "I feel like we transformed into the Bureau of Perversion. Isn't there any other crime we could investigate? It would be nice to be out there catching bad guys in jeans and t-shirt for a change."

The left side of Steve's mouth lifts up for a second. She can tell he's amused.

"The Governor wants us on this case." He explains. "The victims are from rich families. Some of them are friends with the Governor."

"Okay." She sighs, resigned. "But what if we spend another two weeks trying to catch him and we won't?"

"I'm going with you tonight." Steve answers and she feels like they are talking about two different things.

Kono goes ramrod straight. Fuck. This whole conversation took a turn she hadn't expected.

"Is there a problem?" Steve asks. His laser focus never misses a thing.

Yeah, brah, Kono wants to answer; there are plenty of problems with the whole thing.

It's not that she doesn't like working with him, okay? It's just that the man thinks she's as fearless as him and she doesn't want him to know how scared she gets _before_ a task. When she's in the middle of it she has no time to be scared anymore but until then she feels like crawling out her skin.

That's why she loves being paired up with Chin or even Danny. Her cousin knows she's kinda hyperactive so he thinks she's trembling because of the withheld need for some action. And Danny? He's a jittery ball of nervous energy most of the time so he doesn't notice when her hands clenched into shaking fist before they get out of the car.

But Steve is different. He spent the better part of the first few months staring intently at her. Kono's not stupid; she knows perfectly well what he was doing. Learning her. Taking mental notes on every little detail. How does she know? Because she did the same thing with him and Danny.

So, yeah, she doesn't want Steve with her tonight. She'll be mostly defenseless without her gun and the guy they're looking for has a freaking knife and last thing she wants is Steve to be there and witness her shaking limbs. Is it wrong that she wants to impress him? She thinks it's not. Just the reasons why feel slightly unprofessional.

"Kono?" Steve's voice cuts off her inner struggling.

"Um…sorry, boss." She clears her throat. "No. No problem at all."

"Good." He nods. "Meet you at the parking lot after the sun goes down."

"I'll be there." She rushes out the words and flees. Not her proudest moment.

Outside she runs straight into Danny.

"So, are you going for a walk again?" He grins.

"Yeah, brah." Kono grits her teeth. "Just a little late night walk waiting for another sick bastard to point a gun at me."

"Hey, no need to be hostile." Danny puts his hands up in surrender. "I heard that Steve's going with you this time."

"Yes." She nods.

"What are you gonna wear?" Danny rubs his palm together.

"Don't know." Kono shrugs, not getting the point. "It's not like a date or something."

"It's not. I know." Danny shakes his head but the crazy gleam in his eyes tells an uncomfortably different story. "But, hey. Wear something nice."

Kono doesn't bother to answer; she just walks towards the exit without a backward glance. There are days when she feels a strong urge to beat up Danny with a pineapple. But half of the times she lets it go because the whole thing doesn't worth the paperwork.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and alerts and your warm welcome in this fandom. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Kono drives home because she fucking earned a day off since she needs to be on the streets again dressed as a fragile little higher class flower a couple of hours later. She kicks off her shoes and lies down on her bed. Kono barely closed her eyes when she hears someone's voice next to her.<p>

"Why are you sleeping?"

"I have the night shift." She mumbles, looking up at the intruder who stands next to the bed.

Sid is living next door but she's more than just a simple neighbor for Kono. The slightly younger girl is like a sister to her. They met through surfing and they are best friends since, even though Sid has some irritating habits, like walking into Kono's place without knocking. Maybe she should introduce her to Danny. They would make a lovely couple of uninvited visitors.

"Do you remember Haku?" Sid asks and plops down beside her.

"Who?" Kono tries to match a face to the name.

"Haku, a biker friend of mine. He lives a few streets down from here. He mentioned something today that I wanted to tell you."

"What?" Kono knows she's a little grumpy. But, hey, she just woke up. "Someone stole his rearview mirror?"

"Funny." Sid scoffs and shakes her head. "No, someone stole his sister."

"Tell him to go to the HPD."

"Been there, done that. Three days ago. That's when his sister gone missing."

"Maybe she ran away with a guy." Kono offers with a shrug. God, she needs some coffee. "Things like that happen all the time."

"I don't think so." Sid presses on. "She has a husband and kids too."

"That didn't stop anyone before."

"Look, are you listening to me at all?" Sid's voice rises. "You know what, I'm gonna look for her myself."

"Sid." There's a hint of warning in Kono's voice.

"Don't." Sid shakes her head. "I only told you this because Haku wanted me to do it. He really looks up to you and Chin."

"Look, I really want to help, honestly." Kono sighs and places a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "But I'm not free to do whatever I want. As crazy as it sounds my job has rules too and I also have a boss who wants me out on the streets in a few hours and I really need to sleep before that. Believe me I would be more than happy to look for your friend's sister instead of being a bait for a slimy sicko."

"Fine." Sid grunts, getting up from the bed in a very dramatic fashion. "Sleep! Sleep!"

She storms out of the apartment, her bright red-orange hair blazing in the afternoon sunlight, leaving the front door wide open. Kono decides, sighing, that she's gonna introduce Sid to Danny as a revenge. After that they would have each other to be overdramatic with. Her plan sounds like heaven and she finally falls asleep with a little smile on her face.

The phone interrupts her resting twice.

At first it's her mother. She wants to know when she's gonna visit. Kono tells her that she's a little busy at the moment but try to make it this weekend. Her mother doesn't like her profession and she never fails to voice her opinion. She says that there are already enough family members in the line of harm and bullets and she wants her safe. Be a teacher or something equally boring. Kono makes a promise to visit soon and says goodbye.

The second time it's Josh. This call is slightly longer. Not her fault, he just likes to share his everyday stuff with her. They've been friends with benefits for almost a year now but Kono doesn't feel so enthusiastic about it anymore. She needs to talk to him about her gradually cooling feelings soon. But not now. He gets a promise of a visit too before she ends the call.

After a little tossing around she falls asleep again. She's in the middle of a weird dream when she feels someone move around in her room. Two fingers get pressed on her neck, searching for a pulse.

"I'm alive." She mutters to reassure him.

"The door was wide open." Steve explains.

Goosebumps breaks out on her skin from the deepness in his voice. That's new, she muses, while she sits up and takes a look at him. Steve is staring back at her; his face is emotionless as usual. She realizes that maybe she needs to rethink that description of him because she now has a slight suspicion that it's totally untrue. His expression or the lack of it wants you to believe that he has no emotions but after hearing that undertone in his voice she thinks that there might be something entirely different thing going on. But whatever it is, has to wait because she needs to get up and catch a bad guy.

"Sorry boss, I forgot to set the alarm." She flashes a sheepish smile. "I'll be ready in ten."

"Take your time." Steve answers, still staring at her.

Kono showers quickly and puts on some fancy looking clothes. It's short and tight and too sparkly for her taste. She's brushing her hair when the smell of coffee hits her nose. Great, now she's imagining things.

She can't believe her eyes when she enters her small kitchen. Steve's leaning against her fridge, reading a book she left on the counter two days ago, on the table there's a plate with a tasty looking sandwich and a mug of fresh coffee. Kono is speechless. For a minute.

"No candles?" She asks with mock irritation. "I feel cheap."

"Couldn't find any." Steve deadpans, turning the page, not looking up from his reading.

Kono throws him a glare but eats her food and drinks the coffee in total silence. She saves up her frustration for the guy with the knife.

They are driving towards the place where the previous attacks happened when Steve finally speaks up.

"So, about our guy…"

"Boss," Kono cuts him off quickly. "I know everything. I've done this a few times in the last two weeks, remember?"

"But…" He tries to speak again but she doesn't let him.

"The guy uses a fake gun, just to make the girls cooperate. Then he brings out the knife, nothing deadly, he just cuts the girls. Anything else I need to know?" She knows she's snapping at him but she can't help it when he treats her like a fucking rookie after all the shit they've been through.

"No." Steve grunts. "But do me a favor, don't open your mouth until I get there. He might shoot himself."

"With a fake gun?" Kono asks with feigned curiosity.

"Do we have any proof that it's really a fake one?" He shoots back causally.

Fuck. See? That's why she loves working with Chin; he never tries to make things worse. Now she's scared, more than before. She feels the first small tremors in her limbs so she clenches her hands in tight fists willing the trembling to go away. God, not now, she thinks, not in front of Steve.

.

.

She's walking down the streets in her high heels and too short dress, pretending that she's on the phone, fake drunkenly babbling about how she lost her car keys and how mad daddy will be when he learns that she can't remember where she left her convertible.

She feels stupid and very alone. There's no sign of Steve but it's the least she expects from a SuperSEAL.

Kono walks between the parking cars on the empty street while dread slowly climbs up along her spine, her breathing turns shallow and her fingertips are freezing from the nervousness.

The guy's fingers are equally cold, maybe he's nervous too, she thinks fleetingly as the stranger grabs her bare shoulder, spinning her around with one hand. In the other he holds the maybe fake gun, pressing it into the hollow of her collarbone painfully. He shoves her and she stumbles backwards, her back is suddenly pressed against a brick wall while the gun is still digging into her skin and she grits her teeth not to cry out from the pain. When he releases her shoulders to wrap his hand around her neck, she presses her open palms against the wall and lifts her leg. The guy has a wide stance so her knee makes a hard hit on his testicles. He jerks hard and stumbles back; his gun is off of her skin when he pulls the trigger.

Definitely not a fake.

She has no time to mull over it because he's on her again, wrapping his fingers around her neck tightly while swearing like a madman. Kono hooks a leg behind his ankle and he looses his balance. They fall to the ground but she's still out of well needed air so she brings her elbow down on his ribs with brutal force and the fingers immediately leave her neck. She crawls away to catch her breath but when she turns back to him a moment later he's on his feet again and points the gun at her.

What a stubborn motherfucker.

The next moment brings a sharp turn of events. The guy's hand lifts and turns backwards in a very unnatural way, she can hear the bones cracking. Steve turns him around and punches him in the face. The guy tries to fight back but he has no chance against the furious McGarrett. He delivers a few hard blows before the guy finally loses consciousness. Kono looks at Steve but his face is hidden by the darkness.

"Are you okay?" He touches her shoulder for a brief moment.

She tastes some blood in her mouth, so she searches for the wound with her tongue. She's grateful she still has all of her teeth, swallowing down the metallic taste and answers in a little unsteady voice.

"The gun was real."

Steve picks up the gun and stares at her for a whole minute without a word before pulling out his phone and stepping away from her.

.

.

Danny and Chin book the guy, finally the real one, at least that's what Kono is hoping for. Steve takes her home, gets out of the car and follows her back to the door. Her hands shake slightly so he takes the keys from them and opens the door.

Kono goes straight for the booze and takes the glass of whiskey to the bathroom. When she walks back into the living room after her shower, Steve's sitting on the couch, his head tipped back, grinning up at her.

"You took your sweet time to come and rescue me." She snaps at him halfheartedly.

"You needed to learn some lessons." He's still grinning.

Now Kono is the one who's staring, eyes sweeping over his hard features, his penetrating blue eyes, even with a smile on his face he seems dead serious. She plops down on the armchair and pours another glass before looking at him again.

"What's your problem with me?" She can't hide the wonder in her voice.

Steve just shrugs, not answering her question. A few moment passes in total silence then he gets up and walks towards the door without another word.

"Hey!" Kono calls after him.

Steve stops and looks back over his shoulder but not showing any intention of turning back.

"Are you gonna leave?" She asks.

"You look better now." He answers turning a little. "Go to sleep, Kono."

"I don't want to." She says, feeling like a petulant child.

She looks at his muscled back and his broad shoulders instead and she wants to hold him back. The truth is that she doesn't want to be alone. The dawn is too far away and she still can feel the pervert's fingers around her neck. She gets up and follows him outside.

Steve stops without any warning and whirls around so they are face to face, their bodies almost touching.

"I'm going to get my car." He states calmly. "You?"

"I thought you could use some company." She tries to smile but fails.

He just stares at her, his face neutral, unnerving.

"What do you want?" His voice is clear of any emotion. "More whiskey? More snapping? Wanna go back? Fuck it out of your system, that's what you wanna do?"

They are standing in the parking lot in the middle of the night and Kono can't think clearly. Does she really want to go back to her place and have scary intense sex with him?

"Yeah, brah." She croaks out. "Let's do that."

That's the moment when she hears the unmistakable noise of a dirt bike. She whips her head towards the street because there's only one person who'd be out in this ungodly hour. The red Honda wobbles unsteadily towards the parking lot then slows down and falls on its side. Sid is on her back under the bike, her helmet makes a loud noise when it collides with the concrete.

Steve can be super fast when he wants to be; he's lifting the bike off the girl's body by the time Kono reaches them and he helps her pulling off the helmet carefully. Sid is unconscious but clearly not from the fall, her face is bruised and swollen and one of her arm is twisted into an unnatural angle.

Kono just stares frozenly at her best friend's body while Steve makes a few phone calls.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** You guys are seriously awesome! Thanks for all the reviews and the huge amount of alerts and favs. Here's the next chapter.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>It's already noon but Sid's still unconscious. She in the ICU and they don't let anyone in, so Kono has to watch her best friend's fight with death from the other side of the huge window.<p>

She stands there alone, Sid has no family and she doubts that any of her friends know what happened. When the doctor finally steps out of her room, Kono is on him in a blink of an eye, listening to the words that come out of his well-educated mouth but they are not making too much sense at all. The only thing she's certain about that the good doctor doesn't know if Sid's going to wake up or not. That's more than enough for her.

Someone, somewhere got Sid beaten up and only god knows the reason why. Kono badly wants to hear the story out of Sid's mouth but she can't speak at the moment, it's a miracle already that she could ride her bike back to their place with a head trauma and a broken arm. Kono gets enough of just standing there and doing nothing but staring Sid's bruised face so she leaves the hospital and drives straight to the well-hidden small beach where they used to hang out when they were younger. She has a hunch that she'll find some answers there.

.

.

She is right, sort of. There are at least six dirt bikes and a pick up truck parked in the sand and she counts eight people in the water and three others sunbathing on the shore. She walks up to them and stands above one of the girls.

"Where's Haku?" Her voice is hard and impatient.

The girl opens her eye and looks up at her.

"Over there." She points at the water with a bored expression.

Kono steps away from her and turns towards the ocean.

"Haku!" She shouts, bringing her hands up to her mouth to make her voice louder.

She repeats it two more times before one of the surfers finally comes out of the water. He's tall with golden brown skin and short black hair and he has multicolored tattoos on his shoulders and arms. He's a good-looking guy, no wonder why Sid was so keen on helping him.

"Sid sent you?" He grins at her.

"Do we know each other?" She's confused. She doesn't remember meeting him.

"I've seen you and Chin a couple of times. At family stuffs." He explains.

"Sid told me that your sister went missing but I'm not here for that. Did you see Sid yesterday?"

Haku seems like he's deep in thought, walking away from the others and Kono follows him. When they are finally alone, he speaks up.

"She came over yesterday, asked a lot of questions about Lani. She looked like that she wanted to look for her so I brought her to Lani's husband. The asshole got mad when Sid asked about the possibility of Lani's having an affair. He threw us out."

"And?"

"I didn't pet her on the shoulder." He shrugs. "I brought her back to her bike then we parted ways. That was around ten."

"That's all?" Kono's voice is full of doubt.

"Something happened to Sid?" Haku goes ramrod straight, his eyes darkens.

"She fall off her bike in the parking lot last night, she's unconscious since. Do you have any idea who could be this mad at her?"

"How mad?" Haku spats the words.

"To beat her half-dead."

Haku presses his lips into an angry thin line.

"She told me that you didn't take her seriously when she told you about Lani." He snaps at her. "She wants to be like you guys, she loves to investigate. You heard about that biker gang, right? She was looking for them too. She didn't tell you?"

"I'm listening." Kono really wants to slap Sid awake. To knock her out again, for being so fucking stupid.

"Maybe those guys beat her up." He drawls.

"What guys for god's sake?" Kono is so out of patience.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard about those bikers." Haku gives her a skeptic look. "The ones with the fake accidents, stopping the cars. They mug the passengers then beat them to death, sometimes rape the women. The ones HPD has a hard time to find."

"Thanks for your time." Kono says politely and leaves the beach.

She drives back to the HQ, missing most of the turns at the first go. Fuck it, she's allowed to be distracted. When she finally reaches the parking lot she kills the engine and just sits in her car for a couple of minutes, taking deep calming breaths.

"What the hell were you thinking, Sid?" She murmurs to herself and reaches for the door handle.

.

.

Danny is on the phone when she walks in and by the amount of sweat on his forehead and the lovely shade of red of skin she guesses that Rachel is on the other end of the line.

Chin is nowhere in sight so she goes straight to Steve's office. He's hunched over some paperwork, probably finishing the report on the pervert with the knife. God, it seems like it happened a lifetime ago.

"How's Sid doing?" Steve asks as soon as he notices her.

"Still unconscious." She answers. "Please tell me we got a case on a biker gang."

"Yeah, a few days ago. But how do you know about that?" He looks genuinely confused.

"It came to my attention that Sid likes to play Detective Rosen in her free time." Kono sits down on the edge of his desk. "One of her friends told me that she was looking for the bikers. Is there a possibility that they did this to her?"

"Maybe." Steve shrugs. How helpful. "The case file says that there are three of them and they are not part of any larger gangs. The guys from HPD asked around but nobody knows a thing about them. They never strike in the same place twice so we can't set a trap. They use the same method: they provoke an accident, one of them pretends to fall under the car and when the driver gets out to help him they attack. Their plates are fake; they never take off their helmets. We have almost nothing."

"So, where we should start?" Kono jumps from the table, eager to do some real investigation again.

Steve stares at her with an unreadable expression but before he could say anything, Danny bursts into his office.

"Hey, Kono!" He grins at her. "Chin called earlier. You caught the real guy last night."

"Oh, thank god." Kono lets out a relieved moan.

"Seems like Steve is your lucky charm, huh?" He winks not so subtly.

Kono really needs some alone time with Danny to ask him if he's on some medication or possessed by a matchmaking ghost or just simply gone crazy. This is one of those days when she's not voting against the idea of beating him up with a pineapple.

Chin fortunately picks that moment for showing up, saving Danny from a serious ass kicking.

"Hey, cuz!" He greets her with a smile. See? Why can't Steve and Danny be a little like him. Nice. Smiling. Sane.

"Hey, brah." She smiles back. "Howzit?"

"I heard about Sid." Chin shakes his head disbelievingly. "How is she?"

"No change." Kono sighs.

Chin steps beside her and pulls her to his side into a comforting half hug. Kono rest her forehead against his shoulder for a moment before pulling away.

"Thanks." Her smile is a lot warmer now.

"Are you free this weekend?" Chin asks suddenly. "We could go to the lake house."

"Sure." Kono eyes him suspiciously. "Why not."

"Are you bringing Josh?" Kono is now certain that Chin and Danny have some evil plan that mainly involves her personal life.

"Who's Josh?" Danny's voice gets high again. He's gonna start ranting in any moment from now. "And she brings him where?"

"Josh is her lover." Chin explains helpfully and Kono wants to slap him. "We are going to our family lake house this weekend. You should come too, bring Grace."

Danny's face brightens. Maybe he's an insane, plotting old lady most of the time but he's the most devoted father Kono ever seen.

"Thanks, Chin." He grins and clapping like an excited five years old. "Gracie loves fishing."

"Good." Chin nods with a small smile then turns to Kono. "You didn't answer."

"No." Kono shakes her head. "I'm not bringing him."

She looks over her cousin's shoulder and she sees Steve standing at the door of his office.

"I wanna go back to the hospital, if it's okay with you, boss?"

Steve doesn't answer, just stares at her with dark, unreadable eyes. While staring back at him, Kono thinks briefly about the fact that if they didn't have that conversation in the parking lot Sid would be dead. She can't find the answer for her fascination with this man so she just makes up some problems in her head in order not to thinking about the ones she already has. It's not working at all.

.

.

Back at the hospital Kono finds Josh walking back and forth outside Sid's room. Somehow she forgot about the surfers' grapevine. Stupid mistake. She really could have expected something like this.

Josh notices her and halts for a moment before rushing to her side, enveloping her in a too tight hug. God, did he do this before? His face is sympathetic as he pats her between her shoulder blades in a calming fashion. God, Kono thinks irritably and pulls away, stepping closer to the window. Sid looks better; her face is not so ghostly anymore but Kono can't shake off the guilty feeling that sits heavily on her shoulders. She swears that she's gonna listen to all of Sid's crazy ramblings from now on.

The good doctor from earlier steps out of the ICU, looking around for her.

"Don't worry." He says with a practiced little smile. "She's over the crisis and she's going to wake up soon."

"Thank you." Her shoulders sag with relief.

"You can go home. We'll let you know when you can talk to her." He pats her shoulder and walks away.

Kono just stands there for a full minute, staring at Sid and tries not to cry but the pressure behind her fluttering eyelids is too much.

"I wanna talk to you." Josh startles her with an arm around her shoulders.

"I have to go back to work." See? She's not even lying.

"When do you get home?"

"I don't know." She's still telling the truth.

"I'm coming over tonight." He presses the issue.

"I haven't slept for a while." She tries to make a point. "I need to."

Josh's mouth pulls into a grin. It's cocky and overconfident. Irritating. Why hadn't she noticed these things about him until recently? She gets more and more confused.

"You can sleep." He reassures her with a sly smile.

Sweet mother of god, if he winks at her she's gonna scream. Fortunately he somehow senses her distress and lets her go.

She's driving back to the HQ when Steve calls and orders her to go home and catch some sleep. She can't decide if she's grateful or not but takes the next turn and heads to her place nonetheless.

.

.

She lies down on her bed, fully clothed and falls asleep on instant. No phone calls, no interruption and no weird dreams this time. The world is a lovely place, she thinks fleetingly.

But like any other illusion this one shatters cruelly too because she forgot to lock the door. She jerks awake in the dark when Josh, truth to his word, slides next to her. She doesn't really know the reason why but the moment he gets in, she gets out on the other end of the bed and switches the light on.

"Did I scare you?" He looks apologetic.

"No, brah. Not at all. You just scared the crap out of me. I think I sprouted a few grey hairs too. No problem. Just stay there if you want, I had my beauty sleep." Kono rants and she has a suspicion that she channels Danny perfectly. God, she spends too much time with him.

Josh laughs, shaking his head at her. He's good looking and stuff but he's just plain irritating right now. And in the last couple of weeks.

"Come back to bed." He cajoles.

"Take me out to dinner." She counteroffers and prepares to hold onto the idea tightly.

"Are you in a hurry?" Josh's smile never falters.

"Yeah, brah." She presses her palm over her stomach. "I can't remember when was the last time I ate."

It's a big fat lie. She remembers clearly, eating the sandwich Steve made for her. Yeah, it's not the perfect time to think about _him_. It. Think about it, not him. Fuck.

"Poor baby." Josh gets up and takes a step towards her.

She flinches at his words, backing away from him and Josh's arm falls back to his side. His gaze is searching, suspicious.

"Kono, what happened to you?" He looks honestly confused. "You've been like this for a month now. I have a feeling that you are avoiding me on purpose. Right?"

"Right."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when I find out."

"You've found someone else?"

Kono thinks about it for a moment. Yes, she'd found a few criminals, a pervert with a knife, a half dead Sid in their parking lot, nothing more. In the end, she doesn't answers just shrugs a few times.

"Answer me, dammit." There's urgency in his voice.

"I don't have an answer for that." She says finally.

Josh is wise enough not to force the issue anymore. They go out to eat but when he places his hand on her right knee under the table, Kono has to close her eyes. Then something strange happens. She's suddenly somewhere else and an entirely different palm is pressed against her skin. She feels more alive then ever before, it's buzzing in her veins, her heart rate picks up and the air thickens around her. She can't decide if it's sick or not to fantasize like this about someone.

"Are you finished?" Josh's voice startles her. "I'm not feeling too well."

"Let's go." She stands from the table, relieved. Now she can go home and finish sleeping.

Back in the car she tunes him out, looking out the window and watches the city lights, deep in thought.

"Are you listening to me at all?" Josh asks suddenly.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm a little tired." Kono tries to smile.

"I said that there's a possibility that I lose my job at the paper."

"Why is that?"

"Sinclair is selling it but I heard some rumors about that he's been forced to do it."

"By the readers?"

"Aren't you the funny one?" He smiles wryly. "No. He's been forced by Martin Handerson."

"Who?"

"Martin Handerson." Josh repeats. "He owns almost the whole sport's media. Never mind. You're clearly distracted. Tell me one thing, what's his shoe size?"

"Handerson's?"

"My successor's."

"Let's not talk about this." She looks away. "Tell me more about this Handerson. You got me interested."

"Don't play with me Kono." Josh slows down the car; it's barely moving now. "Look me in the eye and tell me the truth."

"You want me to climb out and sit on the hood?"

"What's wrong with you?" He's losing his patience gradually.

The car is trudging, Josh is determined to learn all her secrets and it seems that they are joyriding until she confesses all the things she's not aware of either. All this torture gets Kono thinking, about the changes in her in the last few weeks. She just suspects the reasons but she doesn't know where all this gonna lead. All that she knows that the line between work and personal life is rapidly blurring and she can't do a thing to stop it.

"Please, Josh." She snaps. "Believe me when I say that I don't know."

"Oh, come on." He lets out a humorless laugh. "A clueless Kono. Please."

They don't talk after that, the car gains speed and they're on the main street again. Kono gets her hopes up that he finally takes her home.

She hears the bike before she sees it, it's black and heavy looking and rushes straight towards them before it takes a sharp turn and crashes into the sidewalk. Josh's opening the door when she notices the other two's arrival.

"Stay in the car!" She shouts at him but he's already out.

The world seems to slow down and speed at the same time. Kono sees Josh as he struggles to pull the heavy bike from the guy's body. One of the others helps him, taking it out of Josh's hands and pushes it out of the way. He looks slender; his movements' has a catlike grace. The other one is taller, he has a solid bulk; he says something to Josh then rises his leg. That one kick forces Josh to the ground, he's screaming in pain.

The third guy seems to be perfectly fine as he gets up from the ground and heads towards Kono and the car. When he bends down to look inside through the window she kicks the door out. His helmet bangs loudly against the asphalt when he loses his balance and falls on his back. She jumps out of the car; her hand clammy on the grip. The second guy is still kicking the unmoving Josh. She waits for him to stop for a moment then she shoots him in the leg. He's howling like a wild animal and the third guy next to her starts to fidget, so she points her gun at him. The streetlight lets her to see inside the helmet and she knows the look in the guy's eye; he's not gonna back down, he's preparing for a fight. She fires a warning shot right next to his left thigh and that's enough for him to rethink his actions so he starts to crawls slowly backwards instead. The first guy, the slender one gets onto the bike and drives away quickly, leaving his partners behind. Kono has to decide what to do next because both of the remaining attackers inch towards their bikes too. In her mind the thoughts quickly chasing each other; the unmoving Josh, the fear and the need to do her job and catch these assholes. She hast to pick one, like, right now.

She lets the third guy to reach his bike; watching the other, who's backing away slowly, eyeing her every movement. When he gets on his bike, she widens her stance and points her gun at him.

"Don't move!" She shouts at him.

The next moment she has to jump away because the third guy is speeding towards her and she barely misses the impact. She fires the gun at his direction, the guy screams when the bullet hits him on the shoulder. He chooses to run away just like his partner earlier. Kono swears and turns towards the only attacker left. He's on his bike, trying to get the heavy thing moving and when he succeeds she raises her gun without a second thought. He falls to the ground, finally unmoving.

Kono pulls out her phone and calls the police, then Chin; her voice breaks on every other word, her body is shaking like crazy but her eyes never leave the guy. The other two clearly not coming back. Weird.

After giving every detail and direction, she throws the phone down and rushes next to Josh. He's unconscious; his face is bruised and swollen, blood seeps slowly from his left ear. What the hell?

She gets up and walks slowly towards the biker, when she's close enough she kicks the tips of his boots. Steel-toe.

"Fuck." Kono grunts with feeling.

She's kneeling beside Josh when the police finally arrive and she takes a last glance at him.

"Please don't die." She murmurs quietly.

.

.

As she stands in the hospital's corridor, listening to a different doctor, she realizes that twenty-four hours ago she did the exact same thing but with different characters. Is this gonna be a thing now?

She hopes not.

Josh is in a bad shape, but he's not gonna die, at least that's what she figured out of all the medical gibberish.

Good. Perfect.

Chin sends her home but she feels reckless, itchy under her skin so she goes for a walk instead.

Don't ask her how she got _there _of all places, but she's standing outside his door for a few minutes before she finally decides to knock.

Steve wears only a pair of dark cargo shorts and he doesn't look surprised at all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Thank you so much guys! I'm so damn happy that you like this story. As you can tell by now I put the focus on Kono because we can't see enough of her on the show and I hope I can give her a character and background she deserves.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Kono is surprised that Steve opened the door in the middle of the night after the first knock, like he'd been standing behind it waiting for her. He doesn't make any comment on her visit and she follows him wordlessly into the living room where she crashes down on the first armchair in sight.<p>

"I guess you already know." She looks at him.

Steve pours her a drink and puts the glass carefully in her hands, not letting it go until she brings it to her mouth.

"I know. Chin called me."

"And?"

"The guy can't be questioned for a while. He lost a lot of blood, he went into shock." He sits down on the opposite armchair. "What happened, Kono?"

She tells him everything not leaving out how scared she was because he can read her like a pro so what's the use in pretending. He wears an expression she doesn't quite decode; it might be a frown. Or a smile. When she is finished he gets up and stands before her.

"You need to sleep." He says. "Want another drink?"

She lifts up her glass silently and he pours more whiskey into it.

"You never drink anything that stronger than a beer?" She wonders.

"Not really." He shrugs.

Kono's already feeling the effect of the alcohol, she feels a lot warmer and less rigid; she stretches her legs out and tips her head back. He watches her intently, keeping tracks on her every move.

"I'm sorry about what happened tonight." He speaks up, running his fingers through his hair as if he's embarrassed about something. "I had a plan but I wasn't prepared for this."

"What are you talking about?" She's confused and a little drunk for his mindgames.

"We found out who the bikers are. Chin got their addresses. Danny and I talked with a few witnesses but none of them agreed to the confrontation." He looks into her eyes and she can tell he's blaming himself. "We thought that we will catch them while they're doing their thing then. But that needed more preparation. I never thought that this would happen."

"Neither did I." She tries to act like she's over the whole thing. She doesn't. "What did you find out?"

"The witnesses said that one of them is slender and never did anything more than hitting them. Never touched any of the women. We thought that she's might be a woman. Danny made a map out of their attacks and I have to say, they are not a very creative bunch. It seems like that they are more into the violence than the robbing. They never used any firearm but they beat up the male victims so bad they should be grateful to be alive."

Kono gets dizzy from the amount of the information but she tries to focus because he's clearly not finished.

"We found out that we are dealing with three siblings, one of them is a girl, she's in her twenties. They keep their bikes in a rented garage far from their place. The neighbors said that they never seen them riding but they described them as a violent troublemaker family. You got the eldest one, the other two vanished."

"You said that like I should have shoot them when I had the chance." Her voice has a sharp edge.

He doesn't answer but Kono understands perfectly the things that being unsaid.

"I need to call the hospital." She stands up and walks out of the room.

The doctor says that Josh's life isn't in danger. She feels relieved, leaning against the kitchen counter and stares out the window for a very long time.

"If you want to sleep, I have guest room." Steve's voice startles her.

"Thanks, but I should go home."

"It would be better if you stayed off the streets tonight."

"Aren't you the funny one?" She drawls and heads back to the living room.

She pours herself another shot and starts to walk back and forth in the room restlessly. Steve sits back in his armchair, his eyes on her but not saying a word.

"I'm sorry that I let the other two to get away." She halts suddenly before him, swaying a little on her feet.

"You are sleeping here tonight." He stands from the chair in one fluid motion.

He leads her to the guestroom; tucks her in after she lies down.

"They say third times the charm." She mumbles half asleep, touching his hand.

He knows perfectly well what she's talking about. He looks down at her, eyes sweeping over her frame and he flashes her a small smile.

"I don't envy your guy at the hospital."

"You don't?" She can't help but feeling a little pang of hurt by his words.

"Not today." He answers and leaves her there.

She wants to stop him, but the room is spinning and all the thoughts fall out of her head. She swallows a few times and watches his back as he steps out of the room.

.

.

Sid gives her a little wave when Kono visits her next morning. She sits down on the edge of the bed and tucks her friend's red-orange hair behind her ear gently. She doesn't really know what to say.

"I'm glad you are awake." Her voice is soft, full of emotion.

Sid touches her forearm weakly and the look in her eyes tells Kono that she wants to say something too. A nurse walks in and asks her politely to leave. She says goodbye to Sid and walks down the corridor to Josh's room.

He's asleep not unconscious, at least that's what the doctor tells her but she has a hard time to believe it. He also informs her that it will take months for Josh to make a full recovery. She wonders if he could ever step on a board again. Kono's chest feels tight when she looks at him; she can't leave him while he's like this.

.

.

When she walks into her office she finds a note on her desk:

"_Don't go anywhere alone! Have a nice weekend. McGarrett"_

She makes a small ball out of the offending note and throws it into the trashcan. She's angry, she pretty much feels like kicking and screaming and punching Steve in his overprotective face. She decides against all of them, just stares angrily at the empty space of his office.

Danny walks in and grins at her on instant.

"You are a first class bait even when you are off the clock."

"For your sake I'm gonna take it as a compliment, brah." She throws him a glare.

"Why?" He holds his hands up in mock surrender. "These guys never slipped before."

"McGarrett was disappointed in me." She huffs.

"Oh, come on, Kono." Danny says in a cheery voice. "You know how he is. He just worries about your safety but he was raised in a cave or something so he has a hard time to voice his feeling properly."

Kono can't help the laugh that bubbles up at his words. Danny is a pro at describing his partner's social skills. Or the lack of them.

"How's your friend?"

"Which one?"

"Um…both?"

"Sid is awake but she's very weak. Josh is in a bad shape but he's gonna live."

"That's good."

"Yeah." Kono sighs. "You and Grace still coming to the lake house, right?"

"Right." Danny nods with a wide smile. "Gracie is super excited."

"I think not just Gracie." She teases her teammate. "See you at there, then."

.

.

She goes home, makes some food, and drinks some coffee before she packs for the weekend. She tries hard not to get mad at McGarrett again because she's afraid that she'd call him and that could end ugly.

Kono goes back to the hospital. Sid is sipping something from a cup with the help of a nurse. She smiles when she notices her. Sid mutters something she can't hear clearly.

"She said, Lani." The nurse helps her out.

"What about Lani?" She snaps, the anger takes her by surprise. "Look, I talked to your friend, Haku. He was very chatty. If you ever pull a stunt like that I'm gonna kick your ass. Are we clear?"

Sid blinks at her, to confirm, she understands. The nurse shoots her a dirty look but she doesn't care. She feels sick of worrying about her friends all the damn time.

"Haku thought that the biker gang did this to you. Was he right?"

Sid shakes her head.

"Then who did this?" Kono continues mercilessly. "Lani's husband? No? Someone else connected to her?"

Sid nods. The nurse has enough and tells her to leave. She bends down and kisses Sid's forehead.

"I'm going up to the lake house for the weekend. I'll visit on Monday. Don't do anything stupid." Sid tries to scoff but she's too weak for even that.

Josh's leg is in a cast, his face is still swollen and he can't talk with the broken jaw. Kono sits down on the chair beside his bed and takes his hand in hers.

"Sid is awake." She informs him. "One of the bikers is in the hospital too but the two others got away."

There's a notebook in his lap, he picks up a pen and starts to write slowly, unsteadily. It takes him a long time but in the end he gives it to her. The writing says:

_Do I look ugly?_

_I'm hungry._

_You were right. I should stop when you shouted at me to stay in the car._

_Have mercy on me; don't leave me until I can leave this place._

_I feel fucking awful._

_Could you take Spike for a walk? Two times a day. I bet he's hungry too by now._

_You look beautiful today._

_You already know the rest._

Kono looks up from the paper.

"Yeah, you look ugly but it's not permanent. A few weeks and you'll be as handsome as ever. You can eat all you want then too. Don't worry about your dog I always wanted one. I'm gone for the weekend but I'll stop by on Monday."

Josh lifts his hand and brushes away a tear on her cheek. Embarrassed, she says goodbye and stumbles out of the hospital. Outside she takes a couple of deep breath, trying to keep the growing hysteria in. She succeeds.

.

.

She drives up to the lake house with Spike riding shotgun; the golden retriever waggles his tail excitedly when she lets him out of the car.

She walks down to the lakeside and she notices Grace and Chin, they are fishing or more likely trying to; the little girl is flailing her arms around like a perfect carbon copy of her father.

Danny is on the patio, eyeing the grill exactly like he's looking at the suspects.

"Don't worry, you don't have to do anything with it." She pats him on the shoulder.

Grace and Chin come back after a while and they cook some dinner. The little girl tells her father about her fishing experience and Danny has a hard time not to make any comment so he just pulls some face every now and then. All in all they're having a pretty good time.

She doesn't hear the car just catches the reflection of the headlights on the surrounding trees. They don't expect anyone but she knows exactly who is sitting behind the wheel.

"Uncle Steve!" Grace shouts when he walks up to them.

Kono curses quietly when she sees his face. It was his turn today?

"What happened to you?" Danny asks in his high mother hen voice, reserved only for Steve.

"I had a date." Steve shrugs nonchalantly.

"I'll show you the bathroom." Chin says and pushes a glass of something into his hand, which he drinks in one go.

"That will do." Steve nods towards the lake.

He brushes past her without a word and she can hear the splash when he reaches the water. She gets up, going for a walk in the warm night under the star filled sky. Her thoughts are full of their case and Sid and poor Josh when she hears the quiet steps behind her. She whirls around and watches the shadowy figure's approach; she knows who is it, the moonlight glistens on his broad shoulders as he comes closer and closer.

"You have a good hearing." Steve says.

"Where are you going?"

"I was stalking you."

"Good." She nods. "I have a lot of question for you."

"About what?"

"At first, about the bikers."

"We worked enough for today." Steve cuts her off quickly. "How are your friends?"

"Better. Sid's awake but she can barely talk." She answers. "Josh's writing letters because he can't speak with a broken jaw. They are slowly getting better. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"You know, I'm getting pretty…" She can't finish her sentence because he cuts her off this time with his palm against her mouth.

Kono lifts up her leg to kick him but he is a SuperSEAL so he steps away easily while his hand still covering her mouth. He forces her into a sitting position on the grass, sits next to her and finally pulls his hand away.

"Now I'm convinced that you have serious problems with me." She shoots him her best resentful look.

"You know, I'm here because I think about you more than it would be necessary." He speaks up suddenly.

"Knowing you, it's twice a day, then." Kono tries to joke. She fails miserably.

Steve lets out a short laugh then presses his lips against her briefly. When her heart not threatens to break her ribcage she looks at him.

"You always this passionate?"

"I'm curious about something."

"Well?"

"Are you this snappy with all of your men?"

"Is this about Josh?"

"Mostly."

"What do you wanna know?"

Steve doesn't answers just lies back on the grass and stares up the sky. She rearranges herself, sliding down against his side, cradling his face with her palm, brushing the line of his jaw with her fingers, trying to find his breaking point. But she forgets something vital, all of this has an effect on her too. Her heart rate picks up, her vision blurs and she can't remember when she'd been this breathless before.

"Josh knows that I stay with him only until he gets better." She is the one who breaks the silence again.

Kono can feel his heartbeat under her palm; it feels like he's near a heart attack. Steve's breathing rapidly with his mouth open but there's not enough of air in the whole world for them right now. He closes his eyes and she can't take it anymore so she kisses his mouth. He kisses her back with such intensity it almost hurts, their teeth knocking together from the sheer force of it. His hands slide down to her hips and he turns them over. Kono welcomes his weight on top of her, takes his face into her palms, sucking his lower lip between her teeth as if she waited for years to take that bite of him. Her hands caress his back, counts the muscles with her fingertips, sliding them under the waistband of his cargo pants.

"Wanna go back to the house?" Steve lifts his head up; his voice rough and low.

"I'm good." Kono answers and searches for his mouth again.

He helps her find it in the dark but just for a brief moment, then his lips travel down her neck, he kisses her shoulder while his hands caresses her body, curiously, ingeniously. She'd never thought he'd have ideas like that, if she's honest with herself she'd never thought that he would do any of the things he's doing to her right now. No. It's a lie. She expected something like this. She wouldn't have been that snappy with him if she wasn't.

They are lying on the grass surrounded by their discarded clothes and he nearly ignites sparks on her skin with his touch. Then the rapture crashes into her, white-hot and blinding and she can't help the scream that tears from her lips but it feels so good and it's so intense that it almost knocks her unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing your recognize…

**A/N: **I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you'll like this one even better…;)

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>When they walk back to the house, Danny and Chin are sitting on the patio, drinking beers.<p>

"Where were you?" Danny asks like a strict father after curfew.

"Scuba diving." Kono shrugs and grabs a beer from the cooler.

Danny gapes at her, his eyebrows going up to touch his hairline. He turns his attention to Steve, who's now sitting next to Chin with his own bottle, looking relaxed.

"What happened to your face?" Danny asks.

"Shaving accident." Steve deadpans and changes the subject. "The Governor called earlier, she really wants us on that child kidnapping case."

Kono remembers the case. She could choose between playing the role of the bait for the 'knife-guy' or pretending to be a nanny and protect some very rich and powerful man's child.

"They still get threats?" Chin asks.

"Yeah." Steve nods. "More and more frequently."

"I can't believe he doesn't have any suspects." Danny chimes in. "I bet he has a long list of enemies."

"I have no doubt about that." Steve glances at Kono. "You could take the job. Chin back you up meanwhile Danny and I continue the search for the bikers."

Kono's eyes first widen then narrow into slits. She can't believe he's pulling that stunt with her after what happened down by the water. Fuck, she's so stupid, now he'll be more of an overprotective asshole. How Danny described him? Neanderthal animal? Yeah, that shoe fits him like a second skin.

"No thanks." Her voice drips venom, her eyes never leave Steve's as she talks. "My life is a little busy right now. I have two friends in the hospital, I wanna find out what happened to Sid and I have a dog. So, um, no thanks, I'm not playing an upper class nanny."

Steve stares at her intently, his expression darkening if it's even a possibility.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Danny holds up his free hand. "What's with the looks? Am I missing something vital here?"

Chin lets out an uncharacteristic snort and raises a brow at Danny as if he's saying, are you really a detective?

"What?" Danny is totally confused. "Am I the only one who didn't get the memo that something life altering happened?"

"Maybe." Steve takes a glance at him before he turns his gaze back towards Kono. "You want to investigate Sid's case?"

"In my free time." She takes a swig from her beer bottle. "If it's okay with you, _boss_."

"Maybe we could find someone for the job." Chine chimes in to save the day. "Any ideas?"

"Ana Yang." Kono offers. "She was two years my senior at the Academy. I heard that she is one of the best."

"I'll give her name to the Governor in the morning." Steve says.

"You know, I think it's Handerson's ex-wife." Danny muses. "She doesn't want to kidnap the kid, it's more likely that she just wants money."

Kono's head snaps up at the name. Josh mentioned Martin Handerson the previous night. She gets up from the table, says goodnight and goes to the bathroom. She stands under the spray for a long time, trying to remember what Josh said about Handerson. He has an older brother, Caleb, who's definitely on the dark side but somehow he could remain untouchable. Martin inherited their father's company but he doesn't have second thoughts about using his brother's men to seal a reluctant deal.

Now she remembers that Josh mentioned the kidnapping threats but at that time she couldn't see the connections. He also told her that Caleb seduced Martin's wife but that never broke the brothers' relationship. That's all she could put together but the picture doesn't get any clearer. She steps out of the shower and pads into her room. On her way she notices that the patio is empty and dark, the boys clearly went to sleep. She pulls the covers over her head but she can't fall asleep because someone's watching the TV and she blames the noise for tossing and turning for a long time.

When her door opens it's a welcomed distraction.

"Are you awake?" Steve asks in a quiet voice.

"Yeah." She answers.

"Danny took the couch because it's closer to Grace's room. It seems he can't sleep without the TV on." He explains the noise.

"I'm amazed by him from time to time."

"I'm amazed too." He sits down on the bed. "But by someone else."

"This is your attempt at flirting?" She arches a brow.

"I wanna sleep here." He looks like he's surprised that he actually said that. "With you."

"I thought you like to sleep alone." Kono smiles.

"I'm changing."

He lies down on his back beside her with his arms under his head. She snuggles up to his side, laying her head on his shoulder. He brushes her hair off his face, tucking the strands behind her ear, leaving his hand there, caressing her face.

"What do you know about Caleb Handerson?" She asks after a few minutes.

When Steve tenses beside her, she already knows that she made a mistake. He sweeps her off of his body, sitting up in lightspeed, grabbing her shoulder and turning her towards him.

"How do you know about Caleb Handerson?" His voice is low and hard. Dangerous.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you fucking crazy?" Kono voice's trembling from the withheld urge to shout at him.

Steve gets up, switches the light on, staring at her, studying her face.

"I didn't want you to get involved." He gives her his trademark half-smile.

"You are aware of the fact that we work together, right? As a team. You can't leave me out of cases!" Her voice gradually rises.

"I know."

"You already knew who the bikers were when I asked you, didn't you?" Realization hits her like a punch in her stomach.

"You asked about them only because of Sid."

"So what?"

"It's a long story."

"I have the whole night." She gets up from the bed and starts to pace to work her anger out of her system.

Steve covers his eyes because she's naked.

"Put some clothes on." He pleads.

She throws a flip flop at his head but sits back on the bed, pulling the covers around her shoulders. Steve starts to speak.

"Danny and I read all the files about the biker attacks while you and Chin were after the knife-guy. Last year there was an attack where two guys hit on a car, they killed the driver and raped and beat the woman with him. I found out that the driver was a mobster and the investigation came to a dead end so they closed the case as a possible pay off. They never killed again but they used the same method, the beating and the raping. I came to the conclusion that the bikers are simply hit men and I wondered who wanted the first guy dead. That's when Caleb Handerson's name came up. He's untouchable, anyone who tried to catch him ended up dead. That's why I didn't want you on this case. He has friends in higher places, pulling us back every time. How do you know about Handerson anyway?"

"These are pretty new information for me." Kono says and tells him about the conversation with Josh.

Steve listens to her story, his eyes never leaving her face. She is very aware of the fact that she's naked under the thin sheet and he only clad in a pair of dark shorts. Excuse her if she's getting distracted in times like this. And his staring doesn't help at all.

"It doesn't matter from which direction we try to catch him." He speaks up after she's finished. "Somebody's gonna warn him. The best-case scenario is that they take the case from us and we let them. The worst-case scenario is that we all die. We have to be careful. Danny has a daughter, you and Chin have a family."

"We all quit on Monday." Kono tries to lighten the mood. "What about you?"

"I have a sister."

"You are very interesting." Kono eyes him curiously. "When you are talking about bad guys and epic cases you are very chatty. But when it comes to personal stuff you use two words sentences."

"If it's that easy, go on, talk about yourself." He challenges her.

"Okay." She huffs. "It's not easy. But if you asked me something I would answer."

"I asked you before. About your boyfriend."

"If it's a nickname for Josh, lover is more appropriate."

"We have quite a crowd here, then."

"Two lovers are not a crowd. Were you raised by nuns?"

He doesn't answer; he's back at his silent super serious SEAL program. She smiles at him. Fuck both Handersons and the rest of the case. She turns the light off. She wanna enjoy this until she can.

Steve doesn't move, so she shrugs the sheet off her shoulder and climbs into his lap. She finds his ear in the dark and licks the shell playfully before she starts to whisper.

"I have this thing for you for a while now. I bet you didn't notice. It's okay, I didn't either. But Josh did, he asked if I found someone else. What could I say to him? Don't get me wrong; I didn't whisper your name into my pillow every night before falling asleep. I was just snappy and frustrated because I had a hard time to admit this whole thing to myself."

"We could have spared a lot of time if you'd said something."

"Sure. But here's the thing. You are my boss."

His grip tightens on her shoulder. It hurts. The next moment he's kissing her and it's not unpleasant at all and soon she forgets that they were in the middle of a serious conversation.

Kono finds herself on her back tangled up in him and she can't tell which limb belongs to whom but it's not important anyway. Nothing is important just the way they are feeling right now and she has to bite her tongue not to blurt out that the things he does to her are truly marvelous. Minutes or hours are passing by, who knows. His forehead rests against her shoulder while he talks to her in his low feelings laden voice and his fingers are doing their wonder on her body. She's trembling because it's too intense, too intimate and she's glad that the room is too dark for him to see the starstruck expression on her face.

"You have to know that I want you really badly." He murmurs later, already half asleep.

She gapes at him and wants to smother him with a pillow. Leave the ever stoic navy SEAL to toss life altering confessions at her like he's talking about tomorrow's breakfast. She swears that one day she's gonna kill him for this but for now she lets him sleep.

Steve pulls her closer to his body; she can feel his breath on her neck. She falls asleep too, the TV not bothering her anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N: **I really don't know what to say, other than thank you for your reviews. Oh and let me have a fangirling moment about the serious amount of Steve/Kono in the last episode! Gosh, those looks…I nearly died. Come on show writers make them happen, please!

Now, on with the story.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Kono starts her Monday at the hospital. She runs into Haku when he's stepping out of Sid's room.<p>

"Can I talk to you?" He nods and motions her to lead the way.

"Your sister is still missing?" She asks when they reach a secluded area.

"Pretty much." Haku looks at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Sid told me that she wasn't attacked by the bikers. It happened because of Lani."

"You suspect my bother-in-law?" He raises a brow.

"I suspect no one." She shoots back.

"Look, Lani is a pretty woman." Haku finally starts to speak. "God knows why she married that asshole. Before that she was a rich man's secretary. After the wedding she quitted her job and became a full time mother. She has two kids. They moved home every three weeks but in the end she always went back to that prick. Until recently. She started to talk about going back to work. Her former boss died, but she said that his son would give her a job too. I don't know how it ended because she disappeared. That was a week ago."

"How's the investigation going?"

"The official?" He lets out a humorless laugh. "It's getting nowhere. We were questioned by a rookie with creepy eyes. It was totally weird, brah. His eyes. One green, one blue. I can't remember his name."

"And the unofficial?" She frowns.

"I went to the rich guy's place but I couldn't get in." Haku shrugs. "I have a feeling that she's in trouble. I really want to find her."

"I don't want you to do something stupid. You saw what happened to Sid. I try to find out who has Lani's case and look into it, okay, brah?" She says in a stern voice.

"It's a shame you shrugged off Sid when she first approached you with it." He touches her shoulder for a moment. "I think Lani is dead."

He's halfway down the corridor when Kono shouts after him.

"What's the name of the rich guy?"

"Martin Handerson." He shouts back over his shoulder then he's out of her sight.

.

.

Kono walks into Sid's room. She's sitting on her bed, eating something with one hand. Her face is less colorful than it was two days ago.

"They let me out tomorrow." She smiles. "I mean from here, the ICU."

"I'm glad. You look better." Kono smiles back.

"How was your weekend?"

"Good."

She continues eating her food while Kono brings a chair next to her bed and sits down. Sid looks up at her, studying her face as if she's trying to figure out something.

"What happened to you? You look very beautiful." She has a talent in saying the nicest things mockingly.

"Are you insulting me?" She pretends to be offended.

"I'm not." She shakes her head with a smirk. "You, my friend, are glowing."

"And you are being crazy." Kono lets out a short laugh but turns serious quickly. "Did you tell anyone what happened to you?"

"No. I can't remember." Sid's face hardens. "I mean, I know that Lani and two guys were there, we talked about something. After that just blackness."

"Are you kidding? Try to remember, concentrate. Where were you? And what happened exactly? Did you talk to Lani?"

Sid closes her eyes, her expression pained, her words barely above a whisper.

"I only remember what one of the guys said. Nothing more. I'm sorry, Kono."

"What did he say?"

"He said, I suggest you to forget we ever met. The next moment my arm was broken."

Kono stands from the chair abruptly. She doesn't even know why she's angry. It's just she hates feeling helpless, incapable of solving problems.

"Did Haku tell you about Josh?" She asks suddenly.

Sid shakes her head.

"I tell you, Sid. We ran into the bikers even without looking for them. They nearly killed Josh. He's two floors below. So please, if anyone asks about Lani, tell them you don't remember."

"They hurt you too?" Sid's eyes start to shine with unshed tears.

"No. I had my gun with me. I couldn't protect him but I could protect myself."

"Did you get them?"

"No, Sid." Kono shakes her head angrily. "I'm just a rookie, barely out of the Academy. I shoot a few bullets, I hit two of them, but only one stayed on the ground. It wasn't some epic heroic act. There's no such thing like that."

"Stop it!" Sid tries to shout but it's more of a hoarse whisper. "I'm scared enough without your bullshit."

"Good." Kono nods with satisfaction. "Look, I have to go. Do you need anything? Want me to bring some fruit tomorrow?"

"I just wanted to help." A lonely tear streams down on Sid's cheek.

"You wanted to play hero."

"I didn't." She wipes her face. "I just wanted to do something that matters."

"What you did was fucking stupid and you know it. You are not a cop."

Sid doesn't answer just closes her eyes tiredly, telling Kono without words that she's finished with her for today.

"Bring some pineapple." Sid calls after her when she's stepping out of the room.

Josh looks better too. Notebooks and pens surround him; he clearly spent his time usefully while she was away. He pushes one of them in her hands immediately and she reads it because what else she could do. He's a journalist and even if he writes about sports he has a wicked way with words and she knows she's blushing like crazy. When she's finished she lowers herself down on the chair beside his bed.

"Are you blackmailing me?" She asks.

There's sadness in his eyes and she can't take it so she cowardly looks away.

"Stop writing things like that." She pleads. "Things changed. It's irreversible."

The doctor's arrival saves her from more explanation and she slips out of the room quietly.

.

.

When she arrives to the HQ, she goes to Chin's office at first. Fortunately her cousin is there, reading something with deep concentration on his face.

"I need a favor." She plops down on the only available chair gracefully.

"Good morning to you too." Chin frowns. "Howzit?"

"Good morning, my dearest cousin." She drawls. "As I said before, I need a favor."

"Why I have a suspicion that I'm not going to like it?"

"Nothing illegal." She flashes a charming smile. "Do you remember Eric Tyler?"

"Eric Tyler." Chin repeats the name thoughtfully. "You guys used to hang out a lot, right? The kid with the mismatched eye?"

"He's the one." She nods. "Eric was the rookie who questioned Haku and his family about Lani."

"I see, but what can I do for you?"

"Eric's partner is James Sung." Kono trails off and lets her cousin to put the pieces together.

"You want me to call Jamie and ask him to give you the case files?" Chin's brows can't lift any higher.

"Exactly." She grins. See? This is the other reason she loves working with him the best.

"I see what can I do." He shakes his head. "But I don't approve what you are doing."

"You don't have to." Kono gets up from the chair and heads for the door. "Thanks, cuz. You are the best."

"Don't even mention it." Chin shoots her a serious look. "To McGarrett."

Kono is halfway out of his office and this is the only reason she's not turning back to bang his face into his desk. Seriously? Nobody has a private life in this team? She's certain that she works with insane evil plotting aliens.

.

.

Since Steve and Danny is nowhere in sight, she has a sweet bet on that they are arguing, um, excuse her French, investigating somewhere, she goes to the market to buy some pineapple for Sid. Yeah, she has to go to the market for that because Sid is just as crazy as her team and she only eats pineapples from there.

She buys the fruit and she is just walking around in the loud colorful crowd, enjoying the warm sunny day when she notices an empty stand with a closed stockroom and a dozen people who are arguing around it. She steps closer and the gut wrenching smell hits her hard. Something is definitely rotting inside.

Two police officers appear out of nowhere, someone must have called them and they open the stockroom. When the door opens she has to press her palm over her nose to block out the smell. She thinks that it's just her luck to be there, wrong place at a wrong time, again, but when she flashes her badge and steps into the room she knows perfectly why she's there.

A young woman's body lies before her feet, she's on her back with dried blood around her head on the ground. Someone cut an x on her mouth, a message that she talked a lot while she was alive.

"Call James Sung." She turns towards one of the uniforms. "I think this case belongs to him."

She steps away from the crowd and calls Haku. She tells him to get his ass there as fast as he can. While she waits, she prays that the body won't belong to Lani. She'll buy Sid a pineapple every day for a year if the woman in there isn't her. But she knows Sid, she could have asked for any other fruit but the pineapple's stand was the closest to the stockroom.

Haku arrives in ten minutes, takes a look at the officers then at Kono.

"What happened?" He asks lowly.

"Come with me." It's hard for her to form words right now.

They walk into the room bravely; Haku looks down, freezes for a moment then grabs her hand and drags her out. They stand under the bright midday sun silently for a few minutes. Haku's still holding her hand, like he might drown if he lets go. She can understand him; it looks like Sid's not getting any pineapple in the near future. Another moment passes and Haku turns toward her, his face crumbles and the tears begin to flow. She can't help her next move that comes from pure instinct; she pulls him into a hug.

When Steve and James Sung arrive, Steve's face is as blank as ever but she can tell from the tightness around his eyes that he's not impressed.

"Don't say anything." He drawls. "You just happened to be around accidentally."

"Not at all." She looks him in the eye. "I had nothing else to do so I came here to buy some pineapple for Sid. Why didn't I have something else to do, by the way?"

Kono decides that James Sung and the good officers can take it from there so she turns around and walks away from the scene. Steve falls into step next to her, his arm coming around her shoulder on instant as if he has every right to do it and not saying a word as usual, the arrogant asshole.

To save herself from the McGarrett silent treatment she tells him what happened.

"You know, it's just weird." He wonders when she's finished. "If you go for a ride, you ran into a biker gang. If you go to the market, you find a dead body. Is there a boring minute in your life?"

"Are you fucking listening to yourself?" Kono snaps back at him. "My life is like an action movie written by an adrenaline junkie since I met you."

He just laughs, the nerve of him, and escorts her to her car.

"Try to stay out of trouble." He pecks her lips and turns towards his own car.

"It's a ten minutes drive." She shouts after him defiantly.

.

.

Back at the HQ Danny and Chin wait for them solemnly like two gravedigger. Danny wrings an innocent looking newspaper in his hands and Kono seriously concerned that he might have a stroke in any minute.

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Danny tosses the battered newspaper at Steve's direction. "I'm already disturbed by the way you risk your life over everything but now Kono's too? I seriously have no words for this."

Steve bends over the desk and takes a look at the source of Danny's temper tantrum. The confusion melts off his face quickly and the wood cracks loudly as his grip tightens on the edge. Kono's blood runs cold when she peeks over his shoulder and recognizes a picture from the biker attack's crime scene. Steve walks into his office after he's finished with the article, phone already in hand. They can't hear what he's saying but Kono doesn't envy the person on the other end of the line.

"They didn't give out your name, but there isn't a lot of female officer around who matches the description." Chin tells her darkly. Why does he say it like all of this is her fault somehow?

"Is he actually shouting?" Danny muses. "Is it the Governor on the phone? Just because from the look on his face I think I'll have to look for a new job. You too."

"Or the Police Chief." Chin guesses.

"Even better." Danny huffs.

Five minutes later Steve walks out of his office, his face clear of any emotion.

"You are not going anywhere without me from now on." He turns towards her. His voice leaves no room for argument.

"You are kidding me, right?" She tries it anyway.

"This article," he lifts up the newspaper like it's something completely disgusting. " Leads the bikers straight to you. No matter what Danny thinks, thank you for that by the way, I'm not going to risk your life. Two of them are still out and thirsty for your blood. And that's not gonna happen."

"I'm going home." She announces. She can't win with them so she does the only sensible thing that comes to her mind. Retreats.

Steve drives them to her place and she goes straight to her bedroom and plops down before the sewing machine. Yeah, big surprise, she can use that thing. One of the few things she learned from her mother and actually she finds it very relaxing.

Now she's pissed off and needs distraction not to take her anger out on the man in her kitchen. She chooses white linen and starts to work while gritting her teeth.

Forty minutes later she holds up the pants and gets up to find Steve. He's in the kitchen stirring something unrecognizable in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

"What is that?" She shudders.

He doesn't answers just licks the spoon, making a small noise of satisfaction and offering her a taste. She shakes her head. No thanks, brah, there are too many people out there who trying to kill her already, thank you very much. He shrugs at the denied request, pulls out a glass pan from the oven, sloshes the whatever on the meat and pushes the pan back. He sets the timer then sits down on the only chair and finally looks at her.

"Try this on." She gives him the masterpiece.

Now it's his turn to look doubtful. He turns the garment around, staring at it for a few minutes but it's not a suspect so it doesn't break under his hard gaze.

"I'm perfectly fine with what I'm wearing right now." He says eventually.

"Until you try this." She can be very convincing. "Want me to turn around?"

He's a generous kind so he lets her stay. The cargo pants fall to the ground and he steps into the new one. Now he's barefoot and the dark blue tight t-shirt goes perfectly well with the white linen. She can't tear her eyes away. Damn, he looks like something she wants to devour.

Steve walks back and forth in the small kitchen, deep concentration on his face. His hands disappear into the pocket and the left side of his mouth lifts up.

"Funny." He speaks up. "The same thing happened with you too."

"What?" She's not sure he's making any sense.

"You were so different from what I always had that at first I pushed the idea away." He is smiling but the look in his eyes is dangerously serious. "Now I know that you fit perfectly."

See? There's a reason why this man makes her knees ridiculously week. She steps into his personal space and puts her arms around his neck.

"You can thank me, I'm not gonna bite." Her voice is low, alluring. "Hard."

She squeaks out a laugh when he grabs her hips and puts her on the top of the counter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Thank you so much for all of your support. Sorry for posting this chapter this late but I had a minor crisis about the whole fic but I'm over it.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>They are sitting at the table, eating quietly the reheated food, it's not her fault really, that the things got a little out of hand on the counter, which lead to two broken mugs and a glass pan full of cold food, and she admits that she was wrong. The whatever he put on the meat is actually very tasty.<p>

"You can cook tomorrow too." She flashes a friendly smile at him when she's finished.

Steve doesn't answer just gets up, taking two beers out the fridge. He holds out one to her then he leans against the counter, eyeing her thoughtfully.

"You know," he starts slowly as if he's not sure that he even wants to say anything at all. "In the beginning I thought that the whole sarcasm and snapping was your way of showing that you don't like me that much. Then I realized that it was about something else."

"Really?" She's very amused. Steve is talking in full, long sentences. Somewhere below the hell is freezing over right now. "What was it about then?"

"You provoked me. More and more fiercely."

"Are you psychoanalyzing me?" She raises a brow and scoffs. "Seriously? You?"

"Believe me, I'm more surprised than you."

Jesus fuck, what she's gotten herself into, Kono muses inwardly while looking at Steve in wonder. He's smiling and it reaches his eyes, lights them up with an entirely different shade and it feels too intimate, the way it warms her skin so she just swallows around the lump in her throat and lets him speak.

"You are good at undercover because it's not easy to read you." He shrugs, looking at her in hope that she can understand what he wants to say. She does. "So, I, um, I'm not going to get bored of you for a long time, I think."

She wants to laugh, but fights down the urge, because, come on, super stoic Steve McGarrett is declaring his feelings in more than to words sentences in her kitchen. It's kind of funny and appealing.

Her phone interrupts their little heart to heart and she can't help the dread the climbs up her spine when she doesn't recognize the number.

"Kalakaua." She rushes out.

"Hey Kono," a soft female voice answers. "It's me, Ana Yang. Can you do me favor?"

"I'm not sure, yet."

Ana laughs into the speaker.

"It's about tomorrow night." She starts to explain. "I'm at the Handerson's looking after the kid. But I have an important meeting tomorrow. Could you cover me? Just until morning. Please?"

"I'm not thrilled by the idea." Kono sighs. "Can I think about it?"

"No, no, no. I need you to answer right now."

"Okay, Jesus." She huffs. "I'll cover for you. Around seven is okay for you?"

"Perfect." She almost hears Ana's smile. "Thank you, Kono. You saved my life."

Kono ends the call and looks at Steve.

"You got what you wished for." She frowns. "I'm going to play nanny at the Handerson's tomorrow."

His face is back to its unreadable state, he doesn't say a word just turns toward the sink and starts to wash the dishes with lips pressed together in a grim line.

"You are going to make a perfect wife someday." She drawls bitingly because she doesn't know what's his problem suddenly. "I'm gonna sew you an apron next."

No reaction. She can read from the way his muscles move on his naked back that he's deep in thought.

Her phone rings again. Another unknown number. She walks into the living room before picking it up.

"Kalakaua."

Another female voice. It's rough almost scratchy.

"Tina Hudson." Fuck. The bikers. "I wanna meet you. Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you today."

"Why is that?" Kono hardens her voice.

"Because, honey, you're gonna help us."

"Are you serious?"

"Shut up." Tina growls. "I'm the one who's doing the talking now. You help us and I'll give you some intel. You want them? Sure, you do. We are small fish compared to Caleb Handerson. I'll send you the address. Come alone or Sam kills the kid."

"What kid?"

"Sid Rosen. Get movin' honey!" Tina orders and hangs up.

Kono just stands there, staring at her phone for a few moments in total disbelief. She feels Steve presence next to her and she replays the conversation in her head, thinking about how much he could have heard. She rearranges her features, willing her face to go completely blank when she looks at him.

"Sid wants me to bring some stuff for her tomorrow." Her is voice neutral, indifferent. No trace of the anger and betrayal she's actually feeling. Good. "I'm going to get them before I forget half of it. I'll be back in a minute."

Steve doesn't answer just nods and sits down on her only armchair.

.

.

Kono rushes out of her apartment, opening and closing Sid's door loudly to make it more believable before she runs down the stairs and gets into her car in lightspeed.

Sid got kidnapped because the Police Chief thinks that the criminals are stupid. And Steve assisted to this insane plan, helped setting her up as bait and distracted her with all the crazy hot sex on her kitchen counter. But they left out Sid from the equation and Kono swears that if the bikers harm Sid she's going to kill Steve.

Adrenalin thrums in her veins and there's this overwhelming need to scream and rage or maybe just cry but she has no time for any of that. She's speeding down the busy streets, halfway out of her mind, fueled by fear and hurt. She feels cheated.

She arrives to the address; it's a small warehouse, nothing suspicious from the outside. Why would it be, the surprise is waiting for her inside she's sure of that. She has this weird feeling in her stomach about the whole thing. Tina Hudson is twenty-one, a bully and a truculent but she was very different from that on the phone. She called Sid a kid. Kono finds it strange as her anger slowly seeps out of her system and finally lets herself to think. Unfortunately she has no time for that either. She locks her car and walks up to the warehouse. When she steps in a low male voice stops her.

"Hey, put your hands where I can see them!" He orders then searches her for a gun. He finds none; she left it in the car. Let's not talk about being reckless.

The place is almost completely dark and she bangs her knee against a heavy wooden crate as the man nudges her into motion. He leads her into an office and she finds herself face to face with Tina Hudson. The only time they met, she was hidden under the helmet and the mugshots didn't do her justice. Tina is beautiful with her long dark hair and sensual features, her body is slim, and her movements are feline like. She reminds Kono of a black panther.

"You look surprised." Tina speaks up. Her voice is smoky, unpleasant.

"What do you want from me?" Kono has enough of this bullshit.

Tina sits down on a chair with the man standing behind him. He's in his thirties, well muscled, he looks almost intelligent. Kono assumes that he's a bodyguard and not the cheap kind.

"Sam is in a safe place with your friend. I want you to bring the Handerson kid to me by tomorrow night or your friend dies."

"And exactly how I'm supposed to do that?"

"One of your colleagues babysits him. Trade places with her. See? It's not that hard." Tina laughs at her mockingly.

"Did you read this in the newspaper too?"

"You caught my other brother but if you think that I'm just as dumb as him you are sadly mistaken."

"Having that piece of information isn't the matter of intelligence."

"Want something to drink?" She asks suddenly.

"No."

Tina pours herself a glass of something; Kono guesses whiskey from its color, and drinks the amber liquid in one go.

"I know a lot of things about the Handersons," she continues talking, clearly not affected by the alcohol. "So I have to leave this place if I don't wanna die at young age. Honey, I knew everything about life and men before I turned sixteen. No one can say anything new to me. You think you've changed the world with those few bullets you fired at us? We aren't the criminals. The boys just wanted to have some fun, there's nothing wrong with that. Those rich fuckers getting their money the same way as we do, you still don't go after them. I'm disgusted by your kind."

"I'm flattered." Kono drawls.

"Oh, the sarcasm." Tina laughs dryly. "What, you don't like me? You wanna cuff me, bring me in? What did I do? And believe me, those rich chicks like that rough lovin' they've got from my brothers."

"I bet they are still dreaming about it." Kono can't believe this girl. She needs to get out of here before she says something that could lead easily to bloodshed.

"How do you know? There comes a time when you're gonna ask your man to hit you while he's fucking you. Everything gets boring after a while."

Kono is so not interested in this so she tries to change the subject.

"What's your opinion on murder?"

"We needed the money." Tina shrugs. "Handerson gave them the job, I have proof. After the attacks he was afraid the we could lead the cops back to him so he wants us dead."

"You can't blame him for that."

"This is my lover," Tina points at the bodyguard. "He's the head of Handerson's security. Handerson is looking for us. Bring the kid to me and you'll get your friend back."

"Why do you want to get a five year old involved? You hadn't got any better idea?"

"That kid is Caleb Handerson's son. Do you get it, now?" Kono really wants to end this conversation.

"You know until yesterday I wanted to kill you." Tina continues her speech. "But we are friends today because Handerson is a bigger threat than you. But tomorrow we'll be enemies again. Honey, tell her the story about your ex."

"A few years back I had a lover, we had a pretty good thing going but she didn't like that I had other girls on the side. Anyway, I got her a job at the old Handerson." The bodyguard leans against the table as he speaks. "A couple of weeks ago we met by accident. We had some drinks and she told me a few stories about the things that happened at the Handerson's five or six years ago. After that I heard that Martin and Caleb had a fight over her. Martin defended her but Caleb was sure that she was the one who made the threats about kidnapping the kid and he wanted her dead. I've never seen them fight before. Caleb later ordered me to kill her but I refused to do it. I told him that Lani was my lover so gave to job to someone else. He understood it."

"Is that enough for you?" Tina asks with a sick smile on her pretty face.

"No." Kono shakes her head and looks at the man. "I want to know what Lani told you."

"You are a cop. Do your job and find out yourself." Tina answers. "I showed you that I'm not bluffing. So bring the kid to me or your precious friend, Sid dies."

Kono has enough; she turns around and heads towards the door but halts when she hears Tina's phone ring. The conversation is brief but Tina's face is scrunched up in rage when she tosses the phone back on the table.

"Change of plans." She almost spits out the words. "You are not going anywhere."

"You've lost the keys?" Kono tries to play it cool.

"I have some bad news and some good news."

"This whole thing is getting pretty boring."

"I start with the bad news." Tina looks at her with hatred. "I think we have to kill you. But I tell you the good ones before it happens; someone attacked Sam, your friend is free. Honey!"

Kono can't bask in the warm glow of relief because the nameless bodyguard steps closer to her; he doesn't trust his strength much, she thinks when she notices the gun in his hand.

"Go ahead, I deal with her." He says and thrusts the barrel between her ribs painfully.

Tina clearly has other ideas because she steps between them and takes the gun from his hand.

"I'll do it." She hisses out the words. "We have some unfinished business. Now I'm pointing a gun at you and you have nothing. How does it feel?"

Kono swings her arm, her elbow knocking the gun out of Tina's hand; it lands on the other side of the office. She knees her in the stomach and hits her on the back of her neck with her other arm. The bodyguard throws himself at her after Tina hits the floor so Kono jumps over the couch, looking for the gun frantically. She knows perfectly that she can't overpower the guy, so she changes directions and runs towards the door when the bodyguard reaches for the gun too.

She's almost out of the warehouse when headlights flash in the dark; she decides that it's safer to hide behind the heavy crates for now. The bodyguard stands at the door and laughs at her even when two men enter the building and open fire at him. He crumbles to the floor lifelessly and the machine guns stop. The newcomers walk past her hiding place, she can only hear the noise of their steps then a single shot and she hears the footsteps again. The faint sounds of a police siren reaches her ears, the best sound she could imagine at the moment. The two men run out and drive away with screeching tires.

Kono is left alone if she doesn't count the bodyguard's bloodsoaked body. She gets up from behind the crates and walks back into the office. Tina lies on the floor with a hole in the middle of her forehead. She steps over her body and plops down on the couch, waiting for the uniforms to arrive.

.

.

Instead of them the Police Chief and McGarrett step, or more likely burst, into the small space. When the Chief notices her sitting causally on the couch he turns around and walks out with a scoff. Steve is before her in two steps and there's this half-crazed wild look on his face that turns her stomach into knots. He pulls her up and envelops her in a too tight and too short embrace before he lets her go and she falls back to the couch. His focus shifts to Tina and the Chief comes back and they kneel beside the body ignoring her completely.

She tries to sneak out behind their backs when someone grabs her wrist roughly and stops her.

"What happened here?" Steve, the owner of the iron grip, asks.

"I could ask you the same thing." She bristles. "Where's Sid?"

"Sid who?" The Chief asks, eyeing her like she'd gone crazy.

"They set me up!" She rages.

The need to rush off and find Sid puts a heavy strain on her muscles but she knows that she can't run fast enough and the island is too big to find her in time.

"How did you find me?" She nudges Steve's shoulder with her knee.

Steve gets up, straightens his posture and looks her in the eyes.

"You tricked me." His voice is quiet, deep with withheld anger and a shiver runs down her spine. "Why?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I didn't trick you." He speaks slowly, holding himself back. "After you vanished from your place, the Chief called me that the HPD got intel on the Hudson's whereabouts and when he sent two officers to this address they saw you going in. That's how I got here. Now it's your turn."

"Tina Hudson called me, ordered me to come alone or Sid will die." She shrugs.

"How could you come here without telling me?" Steve is getting louder as his control slipping gradually.

Kono ignores him and continues her story.

"While I was chatting with Tina, she got a call from her brother that someone freed Sid from him. I hoped it was the HPD. What's the truth? Where the hell is Sid?" Her voice gets high and thin, signaling the approaching hysteria.

Steve pulls her into a loose hug in a rare stroke of tenderness, mumbling something about everything's gonna be alright. She inhales his scent and his body heat warms her up a little.

He drives them back to her place in silence, she knows that he's still mad at her but she just closes her eyes and tries to sort out her thoughts.

"What you did was fucking reckless." He interrupts her thinking.

"I did what I had to do."

"You seemed to forget that I'm still your boss."

"Don't shout at me."

The car stops before her building and she gets out, turning towards him with an outstretched hand.

"Give me the keys."

Steve closes his fingers around them stubbornly.

"Go home, Steve." She raises her voice.

"I'm going up with you." He takes a step closer. "You are going to calm down and we're going to find Sid."

"I said go home, McGarrett." She shakes her head. "Give me my fucking keys!"

"Move!" It's his scary SEAL voice again and she's defenseless against it. She can make a scene in her apartment anyway.

She stands outside her door and her key doesn't fit into the hole.

What the hell?

There's only one explanation for that. There's already one in it. From the inside. And Sid is the only other person who has a key to her place.

The door opens and she stares at Haku in total disbelief. She rushes into the living room and finds Sid on the couch. Kono throws her arms around her and she can feel the tears streaming down her face silently.

"How did you get her?" Steve asks from the doorway.

"Who are you?" Haku eyes him suspiciously.

"Commander Steve Mcgarrett. My boss." Kono says while Steve sits down on the armchair, staring at them with interest.

"After I left the market I just couldn't find my place." Haku starts to explain. "I thought that Sid helped you find Lani. And if it was true then she'd be in danger. I called the guys and we took turns in watching Sid. Late afternoon a guy came to take her to her new room. I got suspicious because held one of his arms in a strange angle. He took Sid to the parking lot where Jess and I knocked him out and we brought Sid here."

Steve nods silently then gets up and makes a few phone calls.

Sid is taken back to the hospital, Haku and Jess leave with her.

Steve stays but she gets the silent treatment again. He goes to the bathroom and she can hear the shower running. He seriously thinks that she doesn't kick him out? Arrogant asshole.

"What? Do I have to make the bed too?" He asks from the bedroom door.

"Make your own fucking bed." She snaps at him. "Somewhere else."

He just smiles at her and starts to pull the bedspread off the bed. When he's finished he walks up to her and takes her into his arms.

"You know I learnt a lot from Tina today." She informs him.

"What kind of things?"

"Mostly sexual."

Steve lays them back on the bed and looks at her with a raised brow.

"Wait. She called you over for sexual education?"

"Sort of." She shrugs. "So from now on when you want to have sex with me you don't forget about the beating. It's important."

"When do I have to beat you?"

"All the time."

He finally lets out a laugh and decides to show her that they are doing just fine without the beating. And Kono holds him close, digging her fingernails into the skin of his back. She's trembling under him, the pleasure is almost too much, she feels breathless and dizzy and oh, god, he angles his hips just the right way and he keeps staring into her eyes but she can only see the contours of him because everything fades away when the rapture crashes over her like the most violent tide and she shudders in his arms helplessly.

Later when she's still awake because there are too many unanswered questions in this mess, she feels him pressing closer to her backside, his fingers skimming over the skin on her hip. She turns towards him, touching his face in the dark and smiles softly when he kisses her fingertips. She tangles their limbs together and finally lets herself to fall asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Hey guys! So sorry for not updating for so long but I got a little caught up in THTH. Thank you for your patience.

When I started this fic my idea was to write them a little more 'real', based on my experiences. My ex is a member of an elite tactical unit and he was a cop before that so he told me a lot of useful stuff and I spent a lot of time with his teammates too.

I apologize for the slight OOCness.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Kono wakes up to the blinding sunlight and she can't go back to sleep because the air in the room is already too hot. Steve goes straight to the shower after they get up and she has a sneaking suspicion that men only have facial hair just to avoid making breakfast, using shaving as an excuse.<p>

How creative.

She's messing around in her small kitchen when he finally emerges, taking the mug of coffee from her hand with a small smile, which quickly turns into a frown after the first sip.

"Drink it or I'm gonna throw it in your face." She threatens him, deeply offended. "I didn't work my ass off for that."

"It's not your fault." He comforts her. "You need a new coffee maker. I'll buy you the right one."

She stares at him shocked and unblinking because when did he turn into a coffee expert and more importantly when did they reach that level of domesticity where people usually start to buy stuff for the other?

Apparently Steve uses a different scale.

Great. Just fucking great.

"Tell me you'll let me do some real work today." She says to distract herself from her disturbing thoughts.

"We need to find Sam Hudson before someone else does." He looks at her as if he's trying to read her. "I hope you are not keeping anything from me."

"Me?" She widens her eyes innocently. "Nah."

"I really like to know more about that little chat you had with Tina last night."

"I don't know where Sam's hiding." She dodges the question with a shrug.

"What do you know then?" He stares at her thoughtfully.

She doesn't answer, turning towards the sink instead and starts to wash the dishes. She's barely finished with the first plate when she feels his presence behind her and she doesn't have to wait long for his hands to settle on her waist.

"What do you want?" He asks in that deep, meaningful tone that never fails to make her knees weak. "Want me to take you with me everywhere?"

"Oh no. Don't start the bullshit, please." Kono snaps. "Correct me if I'm wrong but we are a team. You were the one who chose me to be a part of it so I don't understand why you are keeping me out of the loop suddenly. If sleeping together means you'll be like this every time then we should stop doing it. If you gonna worry about me all the time, if you plan on leaving me out of the dangerous stuff then forget we ever happened. If this is about you not trusting my abilities then I want a transfer."

"I ask again, what do you want?"

"I want to work. With you, Danny or Chin, doesn't matter." She shrugs. "Doing real investigation instead of being bait for once. I want to find Sam Hudson."

"Then do it. Find him." Steve steps away from her. "I have to go. HPD transports the eldest Hudson to the prison today. I wanna be there."

"Danny's going with you, right?" She frowns at him.

"You are not coming." He crosses his arms over his chest. "And I'm gonna talk to the Governor about your transfer."

"What?" Kono feels like crying and that makes her angrier. "What's the matter with you? You know that I'm gonna end up giving out parking tickets because of Chin!"

"At least you wouldn't end up like Lani."

"You know what? Fuck you!" She shouts at him. "I'm gonna close this case with Five-O like it or not and if all of this nonsense is because of us then you'd better forget that you've ever been in my bed."

Steve sinks his hands into his pockets, looking at her intensely but his expression still unreadable.

"Are you serious?" He asks quietly.

"I don't feel like joking somehow."

They leave her apartment in complete silence, rushing down the stairs. When she reaches her car, Steve stops her, turning her towards him.

"You have to understand that this isn't a game, Kono." He tells her in a tight voice. "I'm not questioning your skills, I'm just trying to protect you."

"Like you did when the knife-guy wanted to take my pound of flesh, huh?" She scoffs. "This argument is pointless. Are we working together or not?"

"Go, find Sam Hudson."

"How generous of you." Kono drawls. "Where should I start?"

"I'm not gonna tell." He laughs. "You wanted to investigate, do it then."

"You are trying to protect me but you have no doubt that I'm gonna find him no matter what, right?"

"I haven't thought about that."

"You don't think that you have to forget the color of my sheets either." She eyes him suspiciously.

"Would you believe me if I said that I'm not the one who's gonna beg." His expression is dark again, and she thinks that his voice can't get any deeper. "I tell you one more time, this is not a game. So don't play with me. You need to cool down, we'll talk about this later."

He leaves without saying goodbye and Kono feels more confused than ever.

She needs to change her taste in men quickly.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Damn.

.

.

She tries to find Hudson but all of her ideas turn out to be a dead end so she drives back to the HQ, tired and frustrated.

"Where's the Odd Couple?" She asks Chin wryly, sitting down with a deep sigh.

"At the crime scene where the eldest Hudson was killed." He informs her, writing down something on the piece of paper before him.

"What?" She moves to stand but Chin motions her to stay put.

"Calm down, they're already finished."

"What happened?"

"Nothing extraordinary." Chin says in his usual nonchalant tone and she wonders for a minute that her cousin would announce the end of the world like that too. "A van pulled up beside the police car and fired a few rounds into it."

"Are they okay?" She asks, concerned. The last thing she needs right now is more loved ones in hospital beds.

Chin can't answer because suddenly Danny's voice fills the HQ and she turns her head towards the entrance.

"Of course you had to run after them without any backup." Danny rants, making wild hand gestures and nearly hitting Steve in the face while doing it. "They had machine guns for the love of God! Machine guns, do you hear me?"

Steve doesn't seem to be interested in his partner's latest outburst, just keeps walking towards them with a casually unconcerned expression.

"Are you two okay?" Kono interrupts Danny when they step into Chin's office.

"Okay?" Danny bristles. "No, we are definitely not okay. SuperSEAL over here was rendered unconscious by the shooters because he just couldn't wait for backup."

"I was out only for a minute or two." Steve shrugs, sitting down next to her, placing his hand on her knee.

Kono looks at him suspiciously because he doesn't look like someone who just got knocked out at all. She reaches out with her hand, sinking her fingers into his hair, skimming the tips over his scalp carefully, looking for a wound or a bump but she finds nothing. He tries to pull away, clearly unhappy with her interest in his battle wounds or in this case the lack of them.

She stifles the urge the say something sarcastic about Steve's inability to admit that he just simply lost his targets and there wasn't any poleaxing involved in it.

God, the guy needs professional help because he clearly has some serious self-esteem issues.

Color her slightly disappointed.

She gets up from the chair, eyes sweeping over her teammates.

"Do you need me or I can go to visit Sid?" Her gaze settles on Steve searchingly.

"Nah, we are good." He answers in a neutral tone. _I don't need you._

.

.

His statement still stings as she drives towards the hospital. She wants to bang her head against the wheel because despite everything she's undeniably attracted to him. And yeah, this is the understatement of the year if not her whole life's.

She lets out a frustrated grunt because she can't understand how that obnoxiously stubborn man, who's everything but a team player and clearly a blatant liar too, can make her hart slam against her ribcage violently with one look.

Maybe transferring back to the HPD isn't a bad idea after all.

Sid greets her with a lopsided smile, half-sitting in her hospital bed and Kono can barely sit down before she starts to speak.

"I was thinking about the guy at your place last night."

"Okay." Kono drawls. "So what?"

"I like him."

Of course she likes him, Kono grouses inwardly. Sid always picks up on the crazy vibes and gets drawn to it like a suicidal moth.

"Did you see the guard at the door?" Sid touches her arm.

"Yeah, you are safe."

"Are you sure?" Sid tilts her head to the side a little.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Kono mimics her mockingly.

"Something's wrong, right?" Sid's voice is quiet, almost tentative, her green-blue eyes full of concern. "You are in a bad mood. Wanna talk about it?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Kono rushes to reassure her. "I let you rest, I have to visit Josh too anyway."

"I thought you broke up with him." Sid furrows her brows in confusion.

"You think too much lately." Kono drawls wryly. "About things that none of your business. But no, I didn't break up with him. Yet. He needs me at the moment."

"If you say so." Sid tries to look nonchalant but she still looks disappointed. "Anyway, the doc says that I can go home soon. Auntie stopped by earlier and she wants to take me home with her."

"You don't look very enthusiastic about it."

"Because I'm not." Sid scoffs. "I'd rather go home with you."

"We'll see, okay?" She promises. "I don't want you alone while Sam Hudson is out there."

"Okay." Sid sighs, resigned. "But please call Auntie and talk her out of the house arrest."

"Why me?"

"Because she is _your_ mother." Sid shuts her eyes tiredly and makes a dismissive motion with her hand. "Go away, I had enough of the Kalakauas for today."

Kono rolls her eyes at Sid, bending over to smack a loud affectionate kiss on her forehead before she leaves the room.

.

.

When she finally gets home she has a throbbing headache and she is highly irritated because Josh is an ungrateful asshole who clearly decided to win a Nobel Prize in Pornographic Literature if his overly detailed writings are any indication. She just wishes that he'd picked a different muse.

Is it too late to join a Nunnery?

God, she needs a shower and a beer.

She halts suddenly in the middle of her living room, alternating her gaze between the gun and the man's face who's holding it.

It's not easy to recognize him, like his sister, he looks different too in real life. He sits in her only armchair, his posture is casual but Kono can see the nervous twitching of his finger above the trigger.

"Um, hello." She says in a calm voice, trying to reach for her gun stealthily.

"Stop!" He orders, waving his gun for emphasis. "Put your weapon on the floor then stand next to the wall with your hands in the air."

"What do you want?" She asks.

"The Handerson kid." Sam Hudson answers.

Of course. Who else. God, what's with the Hudsons and their unhealthy fascination with that poor five year old. She suddenly remembers that she promised Ana to babysit him tonight. Let's talk about coincidence.

"Come on," Hudson rises from the armchair. "We are going for a ride."

"Why?" Come on, brah, she cajoles him inwardly; give me something to work with.

"You'll see." He nudges her into motion.

They get into her car and she starts driving aimlessly, waiting for Hudson to give her some direction. She glances into the rear view mirror from time to time until he notices her doing it.

"Like what you see?" He flashes a toothy grin.

She doesn't have a heart to tell him about the dark blue sedan that's tailing them since they moved out from the parking lot. She accelerates slightly, fidgeting in her seat anxiously.

It takes some time for Sam to catch on her nervousness and she looks at the digital clock on the dashboard. She's already late for the babysitting and she hopes that someone noticed her absence.

"Someone's following us." Hudson states, his voice's wavering a little.

"And you are the Master of the Bleeding Obvious." Kono drawls back testily.

"Shut up," He grunts, pushing his gun against her neck. "Turn right."

"Are you crazy, brah?" Kono glances back at him through the mirror. "What about traffic?"

"They aren't gonna do anything there because there's no escape route." He explains.

"They have feet, you know." Kono rolls her eyes at him.

God, what a dumb asshole. She can't believe she's gonna die because of this idiot.

The dark blue sedan pulls into the next lane, gradually coming closer. The traffic light turns red before they could reach intersection.

"Don't stop." Hudson shouts at her from the backseat.

Kono looks back at him just in time to see him aiming his gun at the blue sedan. She turns her attention back to the road and she fights down the urge to close her eyes when the car crosses the 4-way.

It's funny how everything goes black the next moment anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Hey, guys! Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews and all the favs and alerts. Sorry for the cliffy, I know it was an asshole move but hey, new chapter so please love me a little. Lol.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Much to her surprise Kono wakes up in a bed. She opens her eyes but she has to close them immediately because the sunlight almost blinds her. When the colorful, swirling circles behind her eyelids disappear she gives it another try, cracking her eyes open tentatively.<p>

She realizes that she's in a hospital and someone is sitting next to her bed, broad shouldered, sullen looking.

"You know, I have other things to do than babysitting you." Steve says in a low voice.

Kono's vision is still a little blurry around the edges and the bed's spinning slowly under her as she looks around, she feels nauseous and her head hurts.

"Colin McRae is waiting outside." Steve speaks up again. "He wants an autograph."

"I hate you." She croaks.

"Yeah, okay." Steve shrugs nonchalantly.

"I feel awful." She complains and tries to sit up to settle her very upset stomach.

"Stay put." He pushes her back gently. "You have a concussion, which isn't a surprise at all. You should see your car."

"What time is it?"

"Around ten in the morning." Steve looks at her and she finds his staring very unnerving. "Can you focus for minute?"

"Not really." She answers after thinking it through.

"Try." He commands gruffly. What the hell is his problem? "When I ran after the eldest Hudson's killers yesterday, I recognized one of them, so I let them get away. Later I went after him with Chin because I knew that he's going to lead me to Sam Hudson and he did exactly that but you could imagine my surprise when he ended up before your place. I assume you invited Hudson up for a drink or something equally insane, right? When you and your _friend_ got into your car we followed you from a distance. At the traffic light, Chin and Hudson fired at the same time so the two guy died immediately in the blue sedan and you two crossed the intersection. Hudson knocked you out then jumped out of the car and you crashed into the closest utility pole. We were more concerned about you so we lost Hudson again. Ana Yang got bored of waiting for you, so she put the kid in bed then left for her meeting. There was a party at the Handersons last night so no one noticed that someone took the kid until dawn."

"Sam." Kono mutters.

She feels sick, trying to sit up again but Steve doesn't let her. Holding her head she swallows a few times because it feels like her stomach wants to climb up her throat. Someone enters the room and sticks a needle into her thigh. She's asleep before it gets pulled out.

.

.

Her dreams are more like vivid hallucinations now, all swirling colors and patterns and when wakes up from time to time she isn't happy about it because her head pounds and she feels nauseous.

Once she sees Chin and her mother, standing beside her bed and she makes a clumsy motion with her hand to reassure them that she's okay. She feels sorry for her mom; this is the second time in a week she has to worry herself sick.

"I want to be a teacher." Kono murmurs before falling asleep again.

Her next dream is more real, she's sitting in her car, rushing towards a utility pole and she can't slow down because the car has no break. As she crashes into the pole the windshield breaks into a million sharp splinters, she can feel them scratching her skin everywhere then the blackness swallows her again.

She wakes up with a gasp and she finds Danny sitting next to her bed. He looks worn out but he smiles at her anyway, patting her hand affectionately.

"You know, one of these days you or Steve are gonna put me in an early grave." Danny grumbles, clearly offended by her almost death.

"Don't act like you'd truly miss me." Kono smiles weakly at him. "You just hate doing paperwork."

"Don't even mention paperwork." Danny frowns. "I'm way behind it because I had to sit there while you had your beauty sleep."

"I'm sorry."

She tries to sit up and this time Danny actually helps her to achieve the position, rearranging the pillows behind her.

"Your friend Ana is in a big trouble." Danny informs her. "I think they are gonna kick her out."

"She isn't exactly my friend." Kono shrugs. "What do you think when they are gonna let me go home?"

"No need to rush." Danny hands her a glass of water. "There's another sick pervert on the street already. I heard that they want to send you after him."

"No fucking way, brah." She shakes her head. "I'm done with being bait."

"Think about it. This man kills, with a knife. He hitchhikes on the highway and slaughters the lonely women who pick him up."

"Would you shut up?" Kono mutters. "I'd like to sleep tonight. I have bad enough dreams without your horror stories thank you very much."

"The HPD got the case but Steve wants you to work on it too."

"I have a suspicion that McGarrett has some regrets about hiring me." She shares her disturbing thoughts with Danny.

"You look like someone with regrets too." He grins at her.

"Nah, I just need a good night's sleep." She deadpans.

"You can't be serious even after almost dying and looking like a freaking zombie as a result." Danny shakes his head with a resentful look.

"I am serious." Kono grunts. "And don't call me Shirley."

"What?" Danny widens his eyes for a moment before catching on. "Oh, so you hit your head harder than I thought. Quoting bad movies is a new low for you."

"Danno, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye." Kono says in a flat voice.

"Seriously? Well, in that case, hasta la vista, babe." Danny stands, ready to leave and smiles at her wickedly when Steve steps into the room.

"What now?" She asks him rudely while Danny flees the scene. Traitor.

Steve just smiles at her, bending down to kiss her chapped lips then he pulls the chair closer to the bed and takes her hand in his.

"All roads lead to you." He states matter-of-factly. "I heard that you're feeling better."

"So much better that I wanna ask something."

He doesn't respond just stares at her seriously and she can't help but notice how long his eyelashes are, almost touching his cheeks when he blinks, softening his otherwise hard features and casting shadows over his impossibly blue irises. She has to turn her head away before she gets all emotional just by looking at him. That would be embarrassing and very counterproductive.

"Did you know that Sam Hudson was at my place?" She asks accusingly instead.

"I had a feeling that you are gonna ask me that." Steve lets out a deep sigh. "When I followed my guy I had no idea where he was going and I was surprised to see that he got into the blue sedan before your place. I wanted to go up anyway, not caring about them, but you and Hudson were already coming down."

"Interesting story." Kono huffs disbelievingly.

"Why don't you trust me, huh?" Steve finally snaps. "All I wanted was you not asking certain questions because the danger is impossibly high. I just want to protect you, believe me. What did Sam Hudson want?"

"A drink." Kono shrugs. "And to know how his sister died. Nothing more."

"You are lying. Do you like lying to me?" Steve's mouth twists into an amused half-smile.

"I'm telling the truth."

"Maybe you forgot but when you first woke up and I told you what happened to the Handerson kid you mumbled Sam's name."

Kono looks at him suspiciously because she's not sure that he's bluffing or not. It doesn't really matter; somehow he always knows when she's lying.

Damn.

"The Hudsons tried to blackmail Handerson." She starts to tell the whole story. "At least that's what both Tina and Sam vaguely mentioned. She ordered me to kidnap the kid in exchange for Sid and I think Sam wanted the same thing from me."

"That's all?"

"No. Tina and her lover were willing to share some intel on Handerson after I got the kid. To convince me, she mentioned the murder of a woman, Leilani Onakea. Unfortunately I couldn't find out what Lani had known that got her killed but I'm sure it's somehow connected to the kidnapping threats."

"I have a question." Steve looks at her seriously. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I had issues." Kono shrugs. "When we first started to work together it seemed like we're gonna get along nicely then something changed and I felt kicked to the curb, so excuse me if I didn't know that I could trust you or not. Did you talk to Ana Yang?"

"Yeah, she said that she waited like forty minutes for you then she took off. No one noticed her leaving because of the huge party. I find it more interesting that Caleb Handerson was the one who called the police when they noticed that the kid went missing."

"Why are you surprised?" She says nonchalantly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "The kid is his son after all."

Steve freezes for a moment and just stares at her unblinkingly before he lets out a laugh.

"Okay," He coughs to hide his amusement. "Next time I try to dismiss you, you can punch me in the face. You clearly weren't wasting your time. Is there any secrets I need to know about?"

"Just one." She grins.

"Yeah?"

"I won't tell until you get me out of here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. But I warn you that this secret has nothing to do with the Handersons or the case."

"I'm still interested." Steve smiles at her as he stands from his seat and motions her to get up.

Kono grits her teeth and gives it a try. She succeeds.

.

.

She wins the fight with her doctor and signs the papers that say she's leaving at her own risk with a satisfied smile and a grumbling Steve by her side.

She sees herself in the rearview mirror of Steve's truck for the first time since the accident and she winces a little. Her face looks like she'd been caressed with barbed wire. The scratches aren't too deep so she doesn't get very pissed off and her mind is occupied with entirely different things anyway. At the moment she doesn't give a damn about the Hudsons or the Handersons.

She tells exactly that to Steve too when they walk into his house but he seems reluctant to return her passionate approach as if he's afraid that she's gonna die or at least break from the lightest touch.

He's too careful and gentle and doesn't react to her mocking comments even though she swears that hot, intense sex actually has a healing side effect and from now on the only medicine she needs is an orgasm or two.

.

.

"I want you in the worst way." She confesses later when he rolls over to take his weight off her and lays down on his back beside her.

"That was your secret?" He turns on his side to look at her. "You can't convince me with words."

"Shame." She frowns. "It's easier to talk."

Steve laughs then gets up, pulls his new white linen pants on and disappears from the bedroom. Kono looks around, the room is plain, no unnecessary stuff just a few shelves, a dresser and the bed with two pillows and a thin blanket. She inspects his books and she's not really surprised that he's sleeping with such a serious company.

Eventually she gets up and pulls his discarded shirt over her head before she strolls around the house. His place is almost pathologically tidy and she doesn't know if it's because of him spending his whole adult life in the military or that he has OCD tendencies.

She halts in the living room, looking at the pictures there, all smiling faces, a truly happy family and she rubs her knuckles against the ache behind her sternum because now she has a few ideas why he is this overprotective. He never wants to lose someone close to him again.

"I'm thinking about making some steak." Steve appears in the kitchen's door. "Are you game?"

"Sure. I'm starving actually." Kono glances at him but doesn't move. "What's your sister's name?"

"Mary Ann."

"From the pictures it looks like she loved you very much."

"I'm very loveable." He flashes a cocky grin. "Come on, let's make some dinner."

Kono turns away from the pictures but there's a lingering weird feeling in her chest as she walks into the kitchen.

"Something's wrong?" Of course, Steve notices the change in her mood.

"I just had some stupid thoughts." Kono shrugs, not really knowing how to describe her feelings.

"Because of the pictures?" He raises a brow, looking a little confused.

"I feel like an intruder." She mumbles, staring at her bare feet but doesn't protest when Steve pulls her into his arms.

"Because you are one." He presses his cheek against hers, his voice a low, intimate rumble in her ear. "And I'm grateful for it because with you being here, this house doesn't feel like a tomb anymore. I didn't say it before but I want you in the worst way too. I hope that you understand now why I'm so protective of you."

Kono swallows hard and tightens her hold around his shoulders because she is so overwhelmed by his words she's afraid that her knees are gonna buckle in any moment now. She pulls back slightly; searching for his mouth with eyes still tightly shut and kisses him with everything she has.

She never felt more alive in her life before.


End file.
